James Kenny of Australia
has bagged ten awards for excellence in financial advisory at various forums. He
talks to Cafemutual about his journey so far, the most memorable moment in his
life and shares tips for budding financial planners.
What inspired you to take up the
financial advisory profession?
I began my career at a “Big Four” Bank when I was 17-years-old. Over the course of two years, I gained experience in a number of different areas across the business and decided that financial planning was where I wanted to steer my career path. I liked the technical aspects of financial planning and the idea of helping people. I also saw this as an opportunity to build a long-term, rewarding career.
Tell us about your business model and what kind of services do you provide?
Tupicoffs is a fully independent, professional and holistic financial planning firm. For over ten years Tupicoffs has been a leader in the financial planning profession, delivering the highest standard of advice and service to our clients. We have successfully maintained a best practice advice model through a process of continuous improvement and innovation. We have no affiliations with financial product providers and we operate on a strictly fee-only basis (i.e. no commissions).
We provide advice in a broad range of areas
such as investment strategies, superannuation, goal setting, budgeting,
borrowing, retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, tax effective
structures, asset protection, personal insurances, philanthropic giving, age
care, social security etc.
Tupicoffs has also established a professional complaint management service called ‘Financial Rescue’. Financial Rescue aims to assist consumers who have suffered financial loss as a result of negligent advice received from rogue advisers and recover the loss via the financial ombudsman service. The service is provided on a success-fee basis.
Tell us more about your ‘client first’ approach
Our customer value proposition is to improve
the quality of life for those who seek our advice and commit to working with
us. We aim to be our clients trusted adviser, to offer them a sounding board
for their ideas, to challenge them to achieve their goals, to support them
through difficult times and to celebrate with them.
I believe that our business remuneration
model is fundamentally important in developing and maintaining a client first
culture within our business. Our clients pay an annual fee for our services
(i.e. no commissions or payments via products). Therefore the cost of our
advice and service is completely transparent and the clients are required to
make a conscious decision each year whether to continue with our ongoing
service. The model encourages the advisers to maintain regular ongoing
communication throughout the year and to always keep the clients at front of
mind.
We’ve taken great steps over the years to eliminate conflicts of interest within the business. We have an alternative remuneration policy which applies to all staff. Under the terms of our policy, staff are unable to accept any benefits/incentives from product providers (or other professional partners) exceeding $300 per annum. This helps to remind everyone within the business that our client’s interests always come first.
Most financial advisors in India don't follow any client segmentation. They onboard all types of clients. How does one go about deciding which client segment to focus on? What are the benefits of catering to a niche?
I’m very selective about the type of clients that I take-on. Our business model is generally suited to clients who require long-term ongoing advice and I therefore only agree to take-on a new client if I believe that I can genuinely add significant value to the client’s situation.
Over the years, it’s become evident that clients don’t necessarily measure our value purely in financial terms. For some clients, developing a trusting relationship and knowing that their adviser is “worrying about their money so they don’t have to” is often equally (if not more) important than achieving a great tax outcome or investment return.
Ultimately, client satisfaction is paramount therefore we also offer an unconditional guarantee to new clients. Under the terms of our guarantee, if (in the client’s opinion) our advice does not add more value than it costs, then they are free to hand back the Statement of Advice and not pay us anything. We therefore need to use our professional judgment to determine whether we believe that we can genuinely add-value to the client’s situation before agreeing to take the client on.
For this reason, we don’t really have any non-active clients within the business. For prospective clients that may not require comprehensive advice, we have referral partners which we are able to refer people to. Our referral partners are ethical and skilled advisers that we have been associated with Tupicoffs for many years. Our referral partners generally have smaller size business with a different service proposition and are able to provide a limited service which is priced accordingly. This can sometimes provide a more cost effective option for a prospective client that may only have limited advice needs.
One of the major problems in India is that clients don't pay for financial advice. How can advisors convince people to pay fee?
When an adviser is able to demonstrate the value of their advice, clients will
happily pay a fee for advice and service. To deliver real value, an adviser
needs to focus on understanding a client’s financial and lifestyle goals and
tailor the advice to meet the client’s objectives. I don’t believe it is possible to deliver
real value without taking a holistic view of the client’s needs. Even clients who have very basic financial
knowledge can generally tell when they are being sold a product as opposed to
working with a professional financial planner.
How do you win the trust of your clients?
I believe that if you do your job well, if you always act in your clients best interests, if you maintain regular contact with your clients, if you make sure that you are available to your clients when they need you and your fees are transparent, then you will naturally build trust with your clients.
I think it also important for advisers to be selective when considering taking-on new clients. If you feel that you may not be able to deliver to the client’s expectations then the best solution for yourself and the client is to be upfront about it at the outset.
Referrals remain one of the main sources of client generation tool for individual financial advisors. How can advisors increase their likelihood of getting referred? Is there a structured way of asking for referrals?
Majority of my new client referrals come from existing satisfied clients. I’ve never really had to ask for referrals. In my experience, clients who value the advice and service that you provide will naturally want to refer their friends, family and work colleagues to you. Tupicoffs have produced a “client referral brochure” which I leave on my desk and clients often ask to take a copy to give to a friend when they come in for review appointments.
Please share a memorable moment in your financial planning journey...
It’s hard to really pin point one thing. I’m very passionate about what I do and I take great pride in delivering positive outcomes for my clients. For me, ultimate success is being able to make a meaningful positive difference to the lives of my clients and knowing that my clients really appreciate what I do for them.
In terms of specific milestones, I think graduating from University and attaining my CFP designation were certainly high points. It took almost nine years of studying part-time to complete the bachelor degree and CFP program. Studying consumed most of my personal time over those years so I felt a real sense of achievement when I graduated.
Another significant milestone was completing
my induction and training at Tupicoffs and gaining authorization to work with
clients on my own. All advisers have to
undergo a rigorous training regime, similar to an apprenticeship, when they
join Tupicoffs and passing the grade was a huge milestone for me.
I’ve also won a number of awards over the last few years which I’m quite proud of including;
- 2013 Money Management Financial Planner of the Year
- 2013 PlanPlus Global Financial Planning Awards – Winner (Asia region)
- 2013 FPA Best Practice Awards - National CFP Winner
- 2013 AFR Smart Investor Masterclass exam - Top 50 Honour Roll
- 2012 Money Management Financial Planner of the Year Finalist (Top 5)
- 2012 FPA Best Practice Awards - Qld CFP Winner & National Highly Commended
- 2012 Wealth Professional Top 50 Adviser
- 2011 FPA Best Practice Awards - Brisbane CFP Winner
- 2010 AFR Smart Investor Masterclass exam - National Top 10
- 2009 FPA Value of Advice Awards - National Finalist (Top 3)